Parfait Amour + 

It is not that thy face is fair + 

As dying sunsets are, + 

Nor that thy lovely eyelids wear + 

The splendour of a star; + 

’Tis the deep sadness of thine eyes + 

Hath my heart captive led, + 

And that within thy soul I prize + 

The calmness of the dead. + 

O holy love, O fair white face, + 

O sweet lost soul of thine! + 

Thy bosom is an altar-place, + 

Thy kisses holy wine; + 

Sweet incense offer’d for my bliss + 

Is thy corrupted breath, + 

And on thy stained lips I kiss + 

The holy lips of Death! + 

Wherefore because thy heart is all + 

Fill’d full of mournfulness, + 

And thy gold head as with a pall + 

Hung o’er with sinfulness; + 

Because thy soul is utterly + 

Sinful unto the core⁠— + 

Therefore my heart is bound to thee, + 

Dear love, forevermore! + 